JONES BEACH STATE PARK, N.Y. — On a brisk day in early spring, the scene at Jones Beach was quiet.
Besides
a few fishermen checking to see if flounder or ling were running, there
were just the piping plovers, newly arrived from their wintering
grounds in the Bahamas, looking for nesting spots, and the cats, about
30 of them, living in makeshift structures of cinder block covered with
tarps.
The
stillness belied a simmering conflict, though, whose roots are as
ancient as the antipathy of feline and avian: a battle between cat
people and bird people over whether the two species should coexist at
Jones Beach.
Bird
lovers and conservationists say the cats here threaten the nesting
plovers — small, sand-colored shorebirds, listed as endangered by New
York State — that lay their eggs in shallow depressions on the open
beach. The American Bird Conservancy, a nonprofit that supports
protecting birds and their habitats, is urging the state to get rid of
the cats. But cat rescuers who for years have cared for the colony say
they deserve to stay.
The
fight comes amid growing concern nationwide about the impact of feral
or stray cats on wildlife in general and birds in particular. Federal
researchers have estimated that cats, including outdoor house cats and
tens of millions of strays, kill 2.4 billion birds annually in the contiguous United States.
The
American Bird Conservancy, based in Virginia, has for years campaigned
against the expanding feral cat population and urged pet owners to keep
their cats indoors. Jonathan Franzen, the novelist and a bird-watcher,
is on the group’s board of directors and made the danger posed to birds
by outdoor cats a plotline in his best-selling novel “Freedom.”
“Baby birds on the beach stand zero chance against these cats,” said Grant Sizemore, director of the conservancy’s invasive species program.
The
cat advocates say that by feeding and caring for the cats, which
includes sterilizing them in a program known as trap, neuter and
release, they are protecting the plovers. “Every day the cats get fresh
water and fresh food,” said Marion McKenna, one of eight volunteers
tending to cats here. “They are not hungry. They stay where they are.”
At
Jones Beach, her group has built the cat shelters, which offer cubbies
for the cats, each with a food dish. One of the largest stands at the
entrance to Parking Field 10, a popular fishing spot on the bay side. “Nobody
has bothered us,” Ms. McKenna said. “The park’s staff all know who we
are. We’ve never had any trouble. It’s just the bird people.”
Although
there is no rule specifically against feeding feral cats, the state’s
Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation does prohibit
feeding wildlife, abandoning property or material and the introduction
of animals.
In
a letter to the American Bird Conservancy, the state parks
commissioner, Rose Harvey, said that the park had not turned a blind eye
to the cats, but that the groups who cared for them “object strongly
when we proposed the removal of these feral cats from the park.”
A
short distance from the feral cat colony, state parks workers have
erected miles of symbolic barriers to protect the piping plovers during
nesting season. A nylon cord keeps beachgoers off an expanse of beach
below the dunes. “Persons
may be arrested and fined for harassing, killing or any way disturbing
birds nesting in the area,” a sign reads, warning that plovers are
protected under state and federal law.
And
at the Theodore Roosevelt Nature Center, also at Jones Beach, an
outdoor exhibit is devoted to the piping plover, one of only a handful
of shorebirds that nest in New York. There are examples of the circular
cages that wildlife biologists erect around nests to keep out natural
predators like gulls, skunks, opossums and raccoons.
The
fact that the cats are being fed does not protect the birds, said Glenn
Phillips, the conservancy’s bird collisions and development officer.
“People think that a well-fed cat isn’t going to bother chasing down
these birds,” he said. “But it doesn’t work that way. They are driven by
instinct.”
Training
his binoculars on a pair of plovers, Mr. Phillips added, “In fact, a
well-fed cat is a better predator. A healthier cat is better able to run
and pounce.”
Where
the cats could go if they were removed from the park is unclear. The
Town of Hempstead, which includes Jones Beach, has paid for the
sterilization of some of the cats. On its website, the town said that feral cats “have reached epidemic numbers on Long Island.”
Ms. McKenna said that Jones Beach had become a well-known point for people to abandon cats. “We get one or two a month.”
The
American Bird Conservancy also points out the threat to humans from
feral cats. The cats may transmit parasites or diseases such as
hookworm, rabies and toxoplasmosis. (A 2010 hookworm outbreak in Miami Beach was traced to feral cat feces on the beach.) “The
continued presence of this large number of cats has the effect of
turning the beachfront into a giant litter box,” said Mr. Sizemore.
In
her letter to the bird conservancy, Ms. Harvey said that the state’s
goal “should be the removal of feral cats within New York State parks,”
and that it would begin working toward that end this summer, analyzing
the population and beginning to remove the shelters and feeding stations
and, “where appropriate,” the cats themselves, “in a humane way.”
But
cat supporters say a humane solution may not be possible. “The shelters
are full,” Ms. McKenna said. “They don’t have spots for a lot of
adults. People only want kittens. But these cats didn’t ask to become
feral. The state will trap them and put them down, and then more cats
will be dumped.”
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